Earmarks: Financial Services

Microenterprise Development
Purpose: to support microenterprise development demands in rural Nebraska
Amount Requested: $100,000
Location: Lyons, Nebraska
Recipient: Center for Rural Affairs
Taxpayer Interest: The Small Business Administration was created expressly to encourage and expand small business growth across the country. That is done primarily through financing via loans and loan guarantees and through education and technical assistance from micro-business programs administered in the states. This program expands on the successful programming provided by the Center for Rural Affairs and seeks to make services more widely available across the state.

Letter requesting the earmark:
Chuck Hassebrook, Center for Rural Affairs

Letters in support of the earmark:
Janell Anderson Ehrke, CEO/Founder of GROW Nebraska
Pat Fritz, Executive Director, O'Neill Chamber of Commerce

Entrepreneur-Focused Economic Development
Purpose: to establish and implement entrepreneur focused economic development strategies in multiple Nebraska communities
Amount Requested: $175,000
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
Recipient: Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
Taxpayer Interest: This purpose of this program fits well within the mission of the Small Business Administration by emphasizing and facilitating the creation of economic development strategies within communities to address job creation and the challenge of retaining youth in rural communities. Entrepreneur focused economic development can be effective at addressing both of those issues and is a central element to this program.

Letter requesting the earmark:
Don Macke, Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

Letters in support of the earmark:
Dr. Dennis Headrick, V.P. for Instruction, Southeast Community College
Deborah Feller, Garden County Economic Development, Business Coach, WNCC Coordinator, Volunteers of America (Coming Soon)
Joe Ferguson, Director of Business, Industry and Economic development, Northeast Community College
Cinch Munson, Associate V.P., Mid-Plains Center for Enterprise, Mid-Plains Community College
David Simonsen, Executive Director, Elkhorn Valley Economic Development
Leslie Carlholm, Community Development Director, City of Imperial
Caleb Pollard, Executive Director, Valley County Economic Development/Ord Area Chamber of Commerce
Rex Miller, Co-Director, Grow Garden County
Rex Nelson, Executive Director, McCook Economic Development Corporation
Milan Wall, Co-Director, Heartland Center for Leadership Development

Micro-Businesses
Purpose: to assist micro-businesses in rural and urban Nebraska fill current gaps in technical assistance and financing opportunities.
Amount Requested: $280,000
Location: Oakland, Nebraska
Recipient: Nebraska Enterprise Fund
Taxpayer Interest: This program fills a gap at a critical time and falls naturally within the objectives of the Small Business Administration. Microenterprise growth, particularly in rural areas is crucial during times of economic downturn and this program – through micro-lending and a variety of technical assistance programs – facilitates and encourages the kind of entrepreneurship that creates and retains jobs.

Letter requesting the earmark:
Rose Jasperson, Nebraska Enterprise Fund

Letters in support of the earmark:
Rebecca Parks, Owner, The Collection Agency
Jennifer Wolf, Executive Director of Dawson Area Development
Ed Kentch, CRA Officer at First National Bank of Omaha
Tim Mittan, Director of Entrepreneurship Center, Southeast Community College
 

Updated 8.3.10